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Date Posted: 25th January
Categories: Senior School
Life skills are important for children to learn no matter their age. However, it’s particularly important for those in senior school as it’s at this stage in their educational journey that they are developing into young adults and become increasingly aware of the world beyond school years.
If you’re wondering ‘is private school worth it?’, read on to find out 10 important skills that set children from private independent senior schools up for life:
Whilst senior school age children are aware of others in the world around them, it’s at this stage of their lives that they truly start to learn what makes individuals unique and how to stand up for others.
Some private senior schools such as Wycliffe, offer life skills programmes teaching students about diversity, equality and inclusion. Programmes, workshops and presentations by both external and internal topic specialists teach pupils how to recognise and challenge prejudice and discrimination.
Whilst in education, children of all ages get taught about historic global issues, they don’t always get the opportunity to learn about what is happening beyond the school gates. Private schools are able to adapt their lessons to explore and discover topics in depth that might not be within the state school curriculum. Children are given the opportunity to learn more about global issues and events, broadening their knowledge of the world around them.
As a Round Square School, Wycliffe is part of an internationally diverse network of 200 like-minded schools in 50 countries on six continents. These schools inspire pupils to become future leaders and custodians of our planet and share a commitment beyond academic excellence in terms of personal development, responsibility and understanding. Our collaborative projects with schools worldwide provide students unique insights into different cultural perspectives. We believe that these lessons about global issues help to develop students into excellent global citizens so that they can continue to be curious and forge their own path of discovery in the world.
As pupils mature into young adults, it’s important that they become aware of potential pressures located outside of the class environment and learn coping mechanisms and tools to successfully navigate potentially tricky situations. Learning about these pressures before they reach sixth form age is vital so that they can be fully informed about the dangers m if they or their friends find themselves in a situation involving them.
Attending a private school can help children of all ages to develop their emotional intelligence. At Wycliffe, we believe the learning the important skill of emotional intelligence helps a child to understand their own feelings and those of others, so they can make better decisions in situations both in school and in the community. What’s more, learning about emotions helps a child to be aware of how their actions affect other people and helps them communicate effectively with others.
We all know we have to be mindful of our mental health, and attending senior school can be a challenge, with new relationships, external pressures and exams being a regular part of school life.
At a private senior school, the curriculum is adapted to reflect the ethos of the school instead of following the Government set curriculum. This provides more opportunity to focus on key life lessons. Students are taught about the importance of looking after their own mental health and looking out for others who may be struggling and where to signpost them to get help. We feel that vital skill is an invaluable one that will transfer across an individual’s entire life.
Another important skill that can be learnt at private senior school is understanding finance.
Learning about financial literacy is incredibly important to pupils in senior school, as it helps them to understand basic financial concepts such as budgeting and saving money, debt management and how to navigate risk-taking behaviour in relation to money. Being taught these vital skills at school helps students to have the confidence about how money works before entering the world after sixth form.
When thinking about skills learnt outside of a classroom environment, the importance of softer skills such as leadership and teamwork can’t be forgotten. At a private school there are greater opportunities for students to participate in extracurricular activities. At Wycliffe, all Senior School pupils participate in 2 or 3 extracurricular school activities a term. These activities provide ample opportunities for students to develop leadership and teamwork skills through activities such as debating clubs, sports teams, student councils, Duke of Edinburgh Award and CCF. Leadership, looking after others and being part of a team are essential aspects of life at Wycliffe. We encourage every individual to take on a role supporting others in Pastoral, Academic or Sporting Activities.
Participating in senior school activities and embracing Wycliffe’s leadership ethos helps to foster collaboration and problem-solving skills that can be applied later in life, particularly with regards to succeeding in the workplace.
As children start thinking about their choices of GCSEs and later Sixth Form courses, it is vital that them begin to learn about the different career options available to them outside of senior school. From Year 9, private schools such as Wycliffe offer extensive and diverse careers programmes that helps children to build and develop their career identity and explore the full range of possible future destinations.
When pupils start Wycliffe Senior School, they start building their career portfolio which aims to guide the exploration of their passions, interests and skills to help them discover how these could translate into a future career. Setting them on the right path not only involves having a conversation at home with your children, but it involves children having these open conversations with staff whilst at school before they leave sixth form.
Private schools can offer one-to-one interviews with professionally trained careers managers, mock interviews, life skills lessons in CV creation and events with business leaders. These lessons and experiences are invaluable in the development of their employability skills and career confidence.
Private schools offer students opportunities that they themselves may not have considered. With access to excellent sports coaches, many pupils access sporting academy pathways to pursue their sporting dreams. Alternatively, a few schools such as Wycliffe have overseas university co-ordinators who specialise in European and US University SAT and ACT exam preparation and application support. Students can pursue UCAS and oversea university applications at the same time.
Private schools are known for encouraging their students to be independent thinkers and problem solvers. This is accomplished through a variety of educational strategies and approaches that foster the development of self-motivation, critical thinking skills and innovative thinking.
Private school staff strive to create an educational environment in which students are encouraged to explore and express their ideas without fear of judgment. This massively helps children later in the years after they leave school as they learn to have the confidence to trust themselves.
Wycliffe College is an independent school based in the heart of the Cotswolds, England. We provide our private senior school students with the opportunity to nurture these 10 life skills to ensure they develop into well-rounded, global citizens.
Unlike a comprehensive school, our private secondary school takes admissions for senior pupils (years 9 – sixth form) in January and September through our online CAT assessment, offering places to individuals that we believe will truly thrive at Wycliffe.
Get in touch with us to find out how your child can succeed at Wycliffe.
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